Itamar Shapira

Tour guide at Yad Vashem (Holocaust memorial), guitarist

"We view the Palestinians and ourselves as having fought for useless things. We struggle for security but simultaneously prevent it; they are struggling for a state but the suicide attacks prevent that; we are in transition to a state of refraining from violence."

After Itamar Shapira finished his military service in 2002, he joined Shovrim Shtika, a group of army reservists seeking to raise Israeli public awareness about the occupation's effect on soldiers and Palestinians. Later, Itamar joined his older brothers in Combatants for Peace, a joint organization of Israelis and Palestinians who formerly took part in the armed struggle and who are dedicated to non-violence and dialogue. Itamar and his colleagues draw on their respected status as former combatants in demanding their respective societies' attention to the possibility of ending the conflict. Itamar is studying to be a tour guide and works at Yad Vashem, the Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.